NIH R01 · 2025
The roles of Lyme spirochete adhesins in hematogenous dissemination
Upon transmission by a vector tick bite, Lyme disease spirochetes, primarily B. burgdorferi (Bb) in the US, establish a local skin infection, then disseminate to multiple tissues. Chronic infection by Bb is often associated with arthritis. Our laboratories have identified and/or characterized many Bb cell- or extracellular matrix (ECM)- binding adhesins using multiple approaches, overcoming the challenges of defining their roles in Bb biology. Our approaches include analyses of biochemical activities and generation of targeted mutants selectively defective for a single adhesive activity and analysis of the mutants in multiple murine infection models. To gain detailed mechanistic insight…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.